133. Ribbed Bowl

Condition

Intact.

Description

Vertical, smooth, fire-rounded rim; deep convex body decorated with 21 vertical ribs, slightly slanting to the left and relatively evenly spaced. Ribs begin 1.5 cm below the rim and are visible to the center of the bottom. In the interior, one groove on the lip and two more 1.5 cm from the bottom.

Composite mosaic pattern formed from polygonal sections of a composite cane of amber-colored glass in which a fine, opaque white thread was spiraled two times. The sections were fused together into a single mass, which was slumped over a former mold, and the ribs were formed by tooling, while the form was on a rotating base, probably a potter’s wheel.

Comments and Comparanda

For agate and marbled vessels, see comments on cat. 132. Mosaic glass ribbed bowls are mostly found in the western Roman provinces, and it is assumed that they were probably made in Italy (Stern and Schlick-Nolte 1994, pp. 73–74, 320), while monochrome ribbed bowls were made and predominantly used in the eastern Mediterranean. Preserved mosaic ribbed bowls imitate usually onyx, using either elongated, ribbon patterns or large spirals like both examples from Getty collection (this vessel and cat. 134). Both patterns were probably preferred because the distortion created by the ribs enhanced the imitation of veining typical for agate. For direct comparanda, see Isings 1957, pp. 19–20, form 3b; Berger 1960, pp. 13–16, plate 2:20–21; Goethert-Polaschek 1977, pp. 16–17, nos. 8–9; Follmann-Schulz 1988, p. 113, no. 423, fig. 48; Grose 1989, pp. 279, 282–283, nos. 290, 304, 306, 308–309; Follmann-Schulz 1992, pp. 11–12, nos. 4–5; Stern and Schlick-Nolte 1994, nos. 95–96, pp. 320–323, 78; Lazar 2003, p. 37, form 2.1.4, fig. 11; Antonaras 2017, pp. 54–56, form 6b.

Provenance

1764, Found: park of the Château de Ripaille, Thonon-les-Bains, France, inside a round lead container holding the ashes and partially burnt bones of a cremation burial (Lullin 1787); 1764–1892, Found on the grounds of the Château de Ripaille, Thonon-les-Bains, France, in 1764 and transferred with the estate when sold to Frédéric Engel-Gros, 1892; 1892–1918, Frédéric Engel-Gros, French, 1843–1918 (Château de Ripaille, Thonon-les-Bains, France), by inheritance to his heirs, 1918; 1918–still in 1925, Heirs of Frédéric Engel-Gros, French, 1843–1918; 1972, Private Collection [sold, Objets d’art et de bel ameublement, Palais Galliera, Paris, March 7, 1972, lot 42, to Robin Symes, Limited]; 1972, Robin Symes, Limited, founded 1977, dissolved 2005 (London, England), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1972

Bibliography

Lullin 1787, p. 68.

Bulletin de la Société savoisienne 1862, p. XI.

Bruchet 1907, p. 20; ill. (no plate number) [cited as being in the Engel-Gros Collection].

Ganz 1925, vol. I, pp. 7, 26, no. 56; vol. II, plate 8a.

Palais Galliera 1972, lot 42.

Connaissance des arts 1972, p. 165, no. 2, ill.

JPGM Guidebook 4th ed., p. 36.

JPGM Handbook Antiquities 1st ed., p. 204.

JPGM Handbook Antiquities rev. ed., p. 216.

Wight 2011, pp. 42, 51, fig. 30.

Lapatin 2015, p. 111, fig. 23.

Del Bufalo 2016, p. 185, fig. 5.

Exhibitions

Ancient Art from the Permanent Collection (Los Angeles, 1999–2004)